Carlos Sainz secures pole in Mexico City Grand Prix over Verstappen and Norris
MEXICO CITY - Ferrari's Carlos Sainz exhibited brilliance on the track by securing pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix, outpacing title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in a thrilling qualification session that saw three teams vying for superiority.
With a sensational lap time of 1:15.946, Sainz clinched the pole position for the sixth time in his Formula 1 career. His remarkable performance sets him up to aim for his second victory of the season, following Ferrari's momentum after a one-two finish led by his teammate, Charles Leclerc, at last week's U.S. Grand Prix.
"Very happy and a great couple of laps," Sainz stated. "A lot of times around Mexico you have the feeling that you cannot put a lap together and it's extremely difficult with how much sliding there is, but today my two laps of Q3 were pretty much identical -- almost perfect."
The Spaniard's impeccable drive was 0.225 seconds clear of the championship leader Verstappen, who found himself under pressure after his initial Q3 run was annulled for exceeding track limits. Verstappen, leading Norris by 57 points, sees the McLaren driver starting right behind him on a grid known for its lengthy run down to Turn 1.
Reflecting on his performance, Verstappen acknowledged the hurdles faced: "Yesterday, I didn't do a lot of laps so we are playing a lot of catch up. FP3 wasn't very good. I was already under pressure to have a good qualifying and then of course my lap time got taken away so I had a bit more pressure. But [I'm] very happy to be on the front row, I honestly didn't expect that to be possible."
Norris, starting from the second row, expressed satisfaction despite the competitive challenge. "I'm pretty happy with third, honestly. I feel like I got to the limit of the car quite quickly which made us look good. But I struggled to get a lot more out of it in the final two laps. Carlos and Max did very good laps, especially Carlos all weekend so I'm happy with third."
On the contrary, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc expressed disappointment with his fourth-place start, stating that it complicates his race strategy. "Making his life more difficult" and "nowhere in FP2, in FP3" were his comments on his underwhelming performance.
The race dynamics for the championship have set up a fascinating showdown. Verstappen aims to maintain his substantial lead over Norris, while Ferrari eyes a strategic gain in the constructors' championship, leveraging poor grid positions of both McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Sergio Perez.
Last week's grid scramble, where Verstappen and Norris tussled for the lead, allowed Ferrari to command the front. In Mexico, Piastri starts from 17th after a qualifying mistake, while Perez, hampered by a braking issue, starts 18th.
"I think the car is very good," acknowledged Piastri. "Just a shame we have to start from the back tomorrow. We'll try and see what we can do.. but yeah, ironically similar position for Lando last year and he had a good race so there's still opportunities." Piastri recalls that Norris started 17th last year and surged to fifth place by the finish.
Perez shared his frustration, noting that the braking issue has been a recurring difficulty. "It's obviously very disappointing," Perez lamented about his home Grand Prix. "It's a grand prix I want to do really well, it's this one. Unfortunately it's been really difficult and tricky, this event."
Mercedes' duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton secured the third row, with Russell recovering from an FP2 crash that necessitated a last-minute car rebuild.
Kevin Magnussen impressed with a seventh-place start, leading ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Williams' Alex Albon, and Nico Hulkenberg in the other Haas.
Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda caused the only session red flag following a crash at the end of Q2, incidentally eliminating his rookie teammate Liam Lawson. Aston Martin's drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, along with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, were also out in Q2.
Williams rookie Franco Colapinto made a commendable effort in Q1 but ultimately did not progress, finishing ahead of both Piastri and Perez. Esteban Ocon and Guanyu Zhou, concluding the session, will start from the back row of the grid.
As anticipation builds for Sunday’s race, both individual and team strategies are poised to make it a grand spectacle in Mexico City.
Up Next
F1 TV: Watch F1 Grand Prix live throughout the season.
ESPN: Watch F1 and live sports streaming across ESPN networks.
Season-Defining Headlines
